To speed things along, U.S. attorneys and public defenders have teamed up to create a massive, searchable database to comb through the thousands of social media messages, videos and other evidence produced when the assault on the Capitol was broadcast to the world by journalists, bystanders and the rioters themselves.

“In many even federal criminal cases you have one notebook of evidence, right? You have maybe 50 to 100 exhibits. In a big white-collar case, you might have several notebooks,” said Loyola Law School professor and former U.S. Atty. Laurie Levenson. “This is astronomically more.”

Some judges are getting antsy about how slow the cases are moving. And some Republican politicians have used the delays to criticize the Biden administration’s handling of the cases, saying it is time to wrap up the investigations and move on, an argument that could get louder if the party regains control of Congress next year.